As Long As You're Mine
by solka
Summary: It's a series of one-shots or short stories circling around the friendship and relationship between Rachel and Jesse, strictly relating to the universe that I have created in the Another One and am continuing in Keeping Alive. Some will go back into the past and some will give you a glimpse of the future of St. Berry as imagined by me :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi All,**

 **I know I haven't updated Keeping Alive in ages and it's entirely my fault. I started my first job around July so it kind of consumed most of my my time... and then there is that horrible writer's block that hit me :(**

 **However, I thought that in meantime I can share some of short one shots or mini stories that I've written a very very long time ago. They are ALL placed in the universe that I created for Another One and Keeping Alive, so those two pieces should be read first to avoid some confusion.**

 **The first piece is for Shelby's fans, but there's also a bit of cute young Jesse in it. I hope you will like it!**

 **(I cannot promise that I will update KA very soon, but I am doing my best to do so!)**

 **Best,**

 **S.**

 **1\. Shelby**

 **(Rachel's about to visit Jesse for the first time in Carmel)**

* * *

 **Rachel's POV**

Rachel dragged her feet up her driveway. Her wet clothes were clinging to her body and the chilly early autumn weather didn't add to improving her mood in any way. She stood on her tip toes to reach the key which her dads usually placed near the door frame. Her key was flushed along with her music sheets and lunch. One could think that the kids in her school had better things to do than tormenting her. Guess who's wrong. Again.

It would be okay, she told herself. Nothing will destroy her this week – her dads agreed to Jesse's plead about having Rachel over the weekend. She would go to Akron on Friday, that was in three days, where Jesse promised to show her around his new high school and, that was the best part, take her with him to his rehearsal. His coach, Ms Corcoran, has already agreed for her to come, especially after Jesse had told her stories about Rachel's impressive talents. And Rachel has heard from Jesse stories about Ms Corcoran and the girl couldn't wait until she met the woman which impressed her best friend so much.

Rachel entered the empty house with relief; her dads were at work so she had at least few hours to clean herself and pretend that everything's fine. Or so she thought when suddenly she heard the low murmur of the engine and saw through the window in her living room two cars parking outside. One belonged to her dad, Leroy, while the second was unknown to her. Rachel panicked – she didn't want her dad to see her in that state. Besides, she was supposed to be at school until two hours from now. Rachel looked around hastily and did the first thing that came to her mind – she jumped into the kitchen and hid herself behind the wall. Her hiding spot was close enough for Rachel to hear the nervous greetings when two figures entered the house. She knew there were two of them, she managed to see hazy reflection of the living room in the glass door of the cupboard. She begged Barbra not to let her dad come into the kitchen or focus too much on the cupboard. If she could see them, her small figure would be reflected in the glass as well.

The other person was a woman. She couldn't see her face, obviously, but she was tall and slim, with long straight hair. Her dad gestured for the woman to sit down on the couch but he remained standing himself.

"Shelby, thank you for coming at such a short notice," Leroy started and Rachel frowned involuntarily.

Wasn't Shelby Ms Corcoran's name? Jesse referred to the woman by that name when talking about her with Rachel. What was she doing in her house? Maybe it was some other Shelby?

"Did something happen?" the woman, Shelby, asked. She sounded concerned. "Is it about Rachel? Is she sick?"

Rachel moved her head and leaned in, hearing her name. She was certain she's never met the woman. And why would she be sick?

"No," Leroy cleared his throat. He did that when he was nervous. "I mean, no, she's completely fine. But it is about Rachel. Apparently, one of your students, Jesse St. James, is Rachel's friend and he asked us about having our pumpkin to Akron over the weekend, which includes taking her to his glee club rehearsal. And imagine my surprise when your name appeared during the conversation."

Oh, so that assured that "Shelby" was that Shelby. One mystery solved. Now how did Jesse's coach know her and her dad? Rachel tried to see as much as she could and silently cursed the obscure image in the reflection. She noticed how Shelby stood up abruptly and started pacing around the living room. She seemed nervous when she asked quietly the next question, as if afraid that someone would hear her. Unnecessarily, as there was no one apart from her dad. And her, but the woman couldn't know about her, right?

"Are you telling me that Jesse's friend Rachel is our Rachel?" she seemed stunned. "Oh, god."

Our Rachel? Rachel repeated in her head, feeling more and more uncomfortable. What exactly was going on?

"Shelby as much as I appreciate you recognising the seriousness of this situation, I'd like to remind you that Rachel is not your daughter as far as the law is concerned."

Oh. _My_. God.

Rachel had to cover her mouth not to let a terrified sigh escape her lips. Daughter? Whose daughter? Shelby's? She was... Oh. My. God. She moved as close to the end of the wall as it was possible without revealing her presence and listened to the people in the living room while her heart danced furiously in her chest.

"I already told Jesse that he could bring Rachel with him," Shelby – her mom! – told her dad. "You want me to change my mind?"

No. Yes. Rachel couldn't produce any coherent thought.

"No," Leroy replied. "Refusing Jesse's request without any good reason would be irresponsible and somewhat suspicious, don't you think. Besides, they're both horribly stubborn and Jesse's very much proud of being in that team and Rachel was dying to see him sing with his teammates, so sooner or later you two would meet. No, we, me and Hiram, were thinking more about simply giving you heads up and subtly reminding you about our contract."

Rachel curiosity after mentioning the contract was satisfied after Shelby's next words:

"I remember. No contact until she's eighteen," he voice was dry but devoid of any tone of rebellion about that rule.

"That's right. Otherwise we will be forced to start legal proceedings against you, which is the last thing we wish to do. You've made our dreams come true, we're eternally grateful for our daughter."

Rachel saw Shelby nod her head in silent acknowledgement. She picked up her purse from the couch.

"I will not tell her anything," she promised. "But I can't deny that I won't be happy to meet her. I've been waiting for that opportunity for years."

Rachel swallowed, feeling the sense of careful happiness spread through her body. Her mother was missing her. She wanted to get to know her. Only that stupid contract she'd signed didn't allow her to pursue her. Rachel could feel the rising hope in her heart.

"I understand that you and Rachel have much in common," she heard Leroy's words before Shelby left their house. "If it happens that you two get along well, we'd consider telling her sooner. If not... Anyway, you are legally obliged to wait until her eighteen birthday. Either way, she's too young and vulnerable to know for another few years. I want you to keep your contacts as impersonal as possible."

"I'll do what I can, Leroy. It was good to see you. Say hello to Hiram from me."

Rachel realised it was her cue to disappear. She waited for her dad and Shelby walk to the door and when she was sure that they were properly occupied with a small talk, she tiptoed to the backdoor and slipped outside into the backyard.

What now? When the first wave of astonishment left her head, Rachel suddenly was flooded by uncertainty. Should she tell her dads that she knew? What then? Rachel couldn't help but think about the possible outcome of that. Hiram and Leroy could ban her from seeing Shelby, because she wasn't ready to meet her biological mother. Her dad told so herself.

It was a shock to her, Rachel couldn't agree more with that. She felt sudden terror – despite Shelby's assurances about wanting to meet Rachel for years. What if the woman is nothing like she has imagined her mother to be? Or what if Rachel wouldn't be good enough for her? Was Rachel really ready to face that?

No.

But Jesse adored the woman. He would talk about her for hours if Rachel let him. She couldn't risk Shelby being sent away because of her and Jesse losing his favourite teacher. It was also the reason why she couldn't tell Jesse, either. She couldn't tell anybody. Suddenly she wasn't so eager for the Friday to come.

* * *

On Friday afternoon, Rachel clambered out of her dad's car reluctantly. She looked around the huge parking lot of the Carmel High School and tucked a strand of her hair nervously behind her ear. She grabbed her backpack and threw it untidily over her shoulder. Her dad, Hiram, closed the car and placed his big hand on her shoulder, pushing her lightly to start walking. She didn't say anything and stepped forward.

She kept quiet about Shelby for the past two days. The only person she's discussed it with was her therapist, Dr O'Connell, whom Rachel saw for the scheduled visit the next day. Rachel considered talking to Jesse and calling their weekend plans off but the doctor advised her to wait until she's actually met the woman before jumping into conclusions. That suggestion seemed reasonable enough for Rachel so she decided to meet her mother.

That word still sounded weird to her.

"Is something wrong, pumpkin?" Hiram asked glancing at her.

Rachel shook her head, hoping that her smile seemed reassuring enough.

"Rach!"

There he was. Jesse was standing in front of the main door of his school. The building was almost empty as it was some time after the classes finished. He waved at her and smiled with excitement. Hiram smiled at Jesse but Rachel could see how forced the smile was. She instantly understood that she wasn't the only one nervous there, although her dad couldn't know the real reasons behind her uneasiness.

In meantime, they approached Jesse. He pried her backpack away from her shoulders and carried it himself, while pointing to some more interesting places around his school. Rachel tried to listen to him, but, in all honesty, she failed miserably. Finally, they entered the auditorium and for a moment she forgot all about her problematic issue.

The place was huge. And very, very professionally-looking. There was a large stage at the end of two lanes which ran through the audience area. At the back she noticed a row of spotlights waiting to be lighted up. Roughly in the middle of the audience chairs there was a small table behind which sat a woman.

 _Her mother_ , Rachel gulped, feeling her concerns flood back into her head.

"Rachel, pumpkin," her dad spoke up. "Go with Jesse, I'd like to have a quick word with Ms Corcoran. Adult talks and so on."

Rachel nodded but couldn't stop gaping at Shelby when she passed by her. She turned her head to see how her dad and mom disappear behind the door to the auditorium.

"Rach?" she heard Jesse ask with concern. "Are you okay?"

She was pretty. And looked awfully lot like Rachel; they shared the same ungrateful nose shape and sharp facial lines. And hair. How could anyone look at them and not ask about the clear resemblance?

"Rachel? What's wrong?" this time Jesse waved his hand in front of her eyes and she blinked several times. "Why are you staring at Shelby like you've seen a ghost?"

 _Because I have_ , Rachel thought.

"It's nothing," she smiled widely, making Jesse wince at the sudden change of mood. "So, it was your coach, right?"

He nodded.

"Is she nice?" she blurted out before she could stop herself. "As a coach, I mean."

Jesse grimaced.

"Generally, yes. Demanding and stern but never unnecessarily rude. She loves picking on the smallest errors and pointing them to us, though. She's more critical than me or you when it comes to performing, you know," Jesse smirked and Rachel grimaced. "Why are you asking, anyway?"

"No reason," she threw and looked around the auditorium again. "I already love this place."

Jesse grinned and grabbed her hand to lead her down the lane and on the stage. A group of teenagers showed up in the auditorium shortly after she put her foot on the desks. Rachel guessed they must've been Jesse's teammates.

"Everybody," Jesse called. "This is Rach."

They responded with a group murmured greeting. Rachel smiled slightly.

"This Rachel?" one of the girls, tall and dark haired, asked.

Jesse grinned proudly at her surprised expression. He's been telling them about her?

"Yep, the one and only. Rach, this is Kate, Andrea, Giselle, Chris and Dave," he counted the names and one by one while each person gave her a nod or a smile. "The rest should be here soon. Oh, Shelby's back."

Rachel's head snapped in the direction of Jesse's look. The woman was indeed back in the auditorium and was approaching the stage. Behind her, the rest of the team entered through the door.

"Jesse," Shelby called. "Take the rest and go change. Be back in five."

Jesse nodded and left without another word, his colleagues in tow. Rachel stiffened. Looking for some distraction, she grabbed her backpack that Jesse left at her feet. When she felt ready, she looked up to see her mom standing directly beside her. The woman smiled warmly.

"Hi, you must be Rachel," she offered her hand which Rachel took without hesitation.

She heard her daddy telling once that one could learn a lot from a person's handshake. She took her time to evaluate Shelby's hand in her own. It was warm and soft. That was a good sign, right?

"I'm Shelby Corcoran," her mom continued. "Jesse's been telling us awfully lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Ms Corcoran," Rachel replied politely.

"You can call me Shelby, if you want to," Shelby offered led her up the audience and showed to the chair by the table. "All the kids here do."

 _She sounded nice, too_ , Rachel thought. She had this soft ring to her voice which made Rachel relax instantly. She sat down, with her palms under her tights, waving her legs. Shelby took the seat beside her. She opened some file and grabbed a small remote. She pushed a button and suddenly the stage was brightened up by several spotlights.

Rachel couldn't stop the amazed sigh escape her lips again. She noticed Shelby smile at her reaction.

"Your dad told me you sing?" she inquired.

Rachel nodded her head.

"I will be on Broadway someday," she declared confidently. "I will be Fanny, Evita and Maria."

If Shelby was surprised by that announcement, she managed to hide it perfectly under the smile.

"You seem certain," she noticed.

Rachel threw her the first direct, almost daring, look when she nodded her head and said:

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life. Jesse tells me that if I believe in it, it will happen for sure."

"You two are more similar that I've thought," she murmured and Rachel let that statement slip without her comment. She's heard it enough over years.

Vocal Adrenaline started appearing on the stage one by one so Shelby turned her attention to her team, after apologising to Rachel.

"It's okay," the girl assured the woman. She pulled out her English textbook. "I have my homework."

She turned to her book, pretending to read, while the music began and Shelby's entire attention was devoted to the group below them. Rachel was somewhat relieved; she could observe the woman silently without interruption in her natural environment. Jesse was right – she was good but highly critical. From time to time, she would interrupt or break the performance to bring their attention to some small details or error. Rachel noticed how she tended to pick on Jesse the most but it had its simple explanation – he was the star, he was expected to do everything perfectly.

She wondered if Shelby would be equally critical to their mother-daughter relationship if such was ever to blossom. Would she observe Rachel and comment on her behaviour or acts and try to improve her? What if she would turn out to be below her expectations? Would she decide to throw her away from her life again?

She gripped her book and tried to concentrate on it instead of tormenting herself with black scenarios. Remembering Dr. O'Connell's words, she decided to wait for the day to end before making up her mind.

Besides, she was supposed to spend all weekend with Jesse – her homework had to be done while he was still busy otherwise she would fail the assignment. Jesse normally took up too much of her time during their ordinary meetings. While visiting him she was sure not to be left alone for longer than few seconds.

Involuntarily, Rachel's thoughts ran back to Shelby. She was just yelling at somebody next to Jesse.

She seemed nice to Rachel before the rehearsal has begun, Rachel thought. But what if she was only pretending or trying to be nicer that she really was because Rachel was her daughter? Rachel longed to ask her so many question; why did she do it? Why did she decide to become their dads' surrogate? Why did she want to meet her again?

Rachel, so deep in her thoughts, didn't notice when Shelby ordered the first break. Only after the music stopped, she noticed that it's been almost two hours since she's entered the auditorium. Rachel giggled seeing Jesse laying flat on the stage. He winked at her but otherwise he seemed too exhausted to concentrate on her.

"What are you rehearsing for, anyway?" Rachel asked when Shelby began noting down some comments. She had a sheet of paper with a large table and a list of names with some short note next to each.

"Invitationals," Shelby answered, clearly not bothered by the interruption. "It's not an official part of the show choir circuit but quite important when it comes to establishing the forthcoming prospects for Sectionals. I want Vocal Adrenaline to set the expectation bar as high as possible."

Rachel nodded her head. She's heard the terms from Jesse before; she could ask him about it later on.

"So I take the rehearsals take up a lot of time," Rachel guessed.

"Yes, I want my team to win the National Championship this year. Last time we came in the second place. I think with Jesse we have a real shot at the victory."

Shelby couldn't hide the gleam of pride from her eyes when she looked at Rachel's best friend and suddenly Rachel felt a pang of sadness. Will she ever look at her like that?

"I'm sure you will win," Rachel told her seriously. "Jesse's an amazing singer. He's hard-working and determined. I've never met someone like him, apart from myself."

Her mother nodded her head before looking at Rachel with a smile.

"Your dad told me that you are a smart girl. He was right."

Rachel shrugged.

"People tell me that I'm more mature than other girls my age. Not everybody likes it, or me in general, but I don't care. I used to care, though, when I was younger but Jesse made me realise that they are not worth the bother. I can't be held back by other's petty problems if I want to achieve my dreams."

"True," was all that Shelby told her before turning back to face the stage and barked to them through the microphone to get ready.

Jesse hopped to his feet and looked up to where Rachel sat and called:

"Rach, my mom's going to be here in ten minutes. I'll call you on my way home."

Rachel jumped in her seat. Of course, it was almost the time that Jesse's mom was to pick her up since the rehearsal was likely to last till late evening. She collected her things hurriedly.

"Jesse's mother is picking you up?" Shelby sounded actually surprised.

"Mhm. I'll be staying with them for the weekend."

"I've never met her," Shelby admitted for some reason.

"She's nice," Rachel told her. "A little bit too distracted, if you'd ask me, but she seems to like me. And it's kind of nice to talk to her when I can't bring something up with my dads. Like a mum, you know."

Rachel almost covered her mouth, suddenly pale on her face when Shelby winced. She blurted the words without thinking and after she's said them out loud she regretted that comment almost instantly. Rachel and her freaking babbling mouth. She nodded at the woman and began to run.

"Rachel?" Shelby's voice stopped her in mid-step. The girl turned to look at the woman again. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Rachel assured the woman with the best showface she could muster – one of Jesse's tricks. "It's just I'm babbling when I'm nervous and I don't want you to think I'm more crazy than I already am, because Jesse really likes you and I want you to like me too because I heard so much about how good teacher you are and..."

She was interrupted by Shelby's laugh. Rachel gulped, feeling even more stupid than before.

"It's okay, honey. I'm glad to hear that."

"I better be going," she said to Shelby, trying to sound normal and not freak out. Again. "I don't want Mrs St. James to wait. I'm sorry," she threw before making her hasty exit.

* * *

"Rachel? Honey, is that you?" Jesse's mum approached her small figure by the school.

Rachel nodded, blowing her nose into a Kleenex. She wiped the tears.

"You're crying?" the woman was alarmed. "What happened?"

"I hit my head," Rachel lied pretending to massage her hurting head. "Same old klutz, Rachel Berry."

Mrs St. James accepted the explanation without second thought. She showed Rachel to the car and started telling her something about her friend's daughter and her latest birthday party that she was forced to attend and how the crowds of people made the birthday girl nauseous. Rachel pretended to listen and nodded her head absent-mindedly knowing that Jesse's mum wouldn't be angry at her not really paying attention. As Rachel told Shelby earlier – the woman tended to be distracted.

The meeting with her mum left Rachel sure of one thing; she didn't want to cross Shelby out of her life yet. She wanted her in her life even if not as her mum. She would try to get to know her better and hopefully, someday, they would get there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi y'all,**

 **first i wanted to thank for the tremendously great responses I got regarding this little side project of mine. Here's another piece I can share.**

 **Before reading, please note that the chapters I put here are greatly decontextualised (I hope that's an actual word - I'm too lazy to look it up :) ), so when reading stuff such as this one I wouldn't recommend jumping into certain conclusions and accepting that no one is perfect.**

 **Anyway, I'm working on another chapter of KA, so it may or may not appear before Christmas :)**

 **R &R!**

 **-s.**

* * *

 **2: Mistake**

 **Rachel's POV**

Rachel broke up with Jesse at the beginning of her sophomore year at Julliard.

She entered the building trying to make her way upstairs without tripping over some unconscious body sprayed on the stairs. She was running late for a birthday party that her friend, Cat, dragged her and Jesse to. However, as she needed to stay longer in after her workshops to work on her class solo – which resulted in her practicing her song for three more hours – she was now speeding through the unusually busy corridor in search of her boyfriend. Who was nowhere to be seen.

Jesse called her a couple of minutes earlier, already barely able to speak because of the amount of alcohol that he absorbed during the last few hours, telling her that he was waiting for her upstairs. Rachel sighed at the sound of his voice: Jesse was recently very stressful about his upcoming showcase – not that he would ever admit it out loud. She realised that he needed to let go of some steam before the big day, so she wasn't going to hold his current state against him.

She looked around the crowded space and when she couldn't recognise her boyfriend's figure she took out her phone to call him. It was then that she noticed the picture sent from an unknown number which made her blood boil.

It was a picture of Jesse crushing some dark haired girl's lips in a kiss. She almost dropped her phone. She opened the message again, certain that whoever was in the picture couldn't have been Jesse.

It was.

"Rachel? Rachel!" she heard a female voice to her left. Rachel forced herself to look at her friend who quickly grabbed her arm stopping her from entering the room. "Rachel, stop."

Oh, so now her friend knew too?

"Let me go, Cat," Rachel growled. "I'm going to kill him!"

People around them started to notice the angry scuffle. Slowly Rachel managed to get to the centre of the room where she met Jesse's wide terrified eyes. He opened his mouth and frowned then looked back at the girl he was still holding by her waist and again at Rachel as if trying to compute the situation.

"Screw you, St. James!" Rachel roared at him and tried to tackle him to the ground. She was mad. He promised not to ever look at another girl. He told her he loved and then he just cheated on her not caring about the crowd of people. What could be more humiliating that this? He was... "I'm going to fucking kill you, you son of a bitch!"

Rachel wallowed herself at Jesse but before she could reach his neck, she was pulled away by Cat and her boyfriend, Patrick.

"Rachel, come on, he's not worth it," Cat told her. He embraced her arms and pushed them through the drunken crowd. Patrick stayed behind and Rachel could her Jesse's voice calling her name and slurring some insults at Patrick. Rachel couldn't remember more over the heavy tears falling down her cheeks and Cat's hushing voice.

* * *

With the moral help of Cat and Patrick, Rachel packed up all her stuff from Jesse's apartment ignoring his pained stares and his incoherent explanations. He was still hung over and barely able to speak due to the cracked bone in his nose, courtesy of Patrick. Patrick was holding him by his arm in the entrance of his room where Rachel tried to collect her spare clothes.

"Jesus, Rach, it's not what you mean, I was drunk, never meant to... It was a mistake!"

"Shut up, Jesse. I don't want to hear it," she barked at him on the verge of tears.

"Rach, babe, I thought it was you."

"What?" she interrupted him, tired of his pleads. "Hell, Jesse, _that_ is the stupidest excuse that I have heard in my entire life!" she repeated his own words and moved pass him to get her cosmetics from the adjacent bathroom.

"I..."

"You what, Jesse?" she suddenly turned to look at him through the tears. "How am I ever to believe in anything you say again? How many times you swore to death that you will never look at anybody else, huh? When I asked you about this exact situation you told me it would never happen. You..." she felt the fresh stream of tears fall down her cheeks. "We're over."

She shook her head and finally closed her bag. Cat glowered at Jesse when she guided the crying Rachel out of his apartment.

* * *

She ignored his calls, barely looking outside her dorm room not to accidentally run into him on her way to the classes. Cat managed to get some doctor's certificate to make sure the teachers would excuse her absence so Rachel was content not to move from under her comforter even for food. Her roommate tried to comfort her but the only response was Rachel snapping at the poor girl. It was the last time she would try opening her mouth to the sickly looking ball of depression on the neighbouring bed. Rachel couldn't blame the girl.

"I've got it!" Cat marched into Rachel's dorm room with a triumphant cry.

"You've got what?" Rachel grumbled.

"The name of the skank. Carrie Grisham. She's a freshman, majoring in piano."

Jesse's favourite instrument.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Get up. We're going to beat some freshman's pretty face."

"You think she is prettier than me?" came Rachel's miserable reply.

"Rachel, I've had enough of this self-pity feast. Get up, put some clothes on and come with me."

Despite Rachel's fervent protests, twenty minutes later she was standing in front of the music studio in which Carrie Grisham was rehearsing her showcase number. Rachel's mood fell considerably when she listened to the gracious sounds escaping the room.

"Okay, this is it, Berry," Cat told her with determined scowl. "You can do this."

"No, I can't."

"Yes, you can!"

She seriously didn't want to look at the girl ever again. She still didn't see her face, hidden under the cascade of thick brown waves. She wasn't tall, more or less Rachel's height. At least she would have some chances if it came down to physical acts. Cat opened the door to the studio and stepped swiftly in the direction of the piano girl. Rachel closed her eyes shut and listened to Cat's angry yells. She loved Cat for being the best friend but, gosh, that girl had a temper.

"Hey, you! Yes, I'm talking to you, bitch. Who do you think you... Oh, shit!"

Hearing the sudden outburst, Rachel ran into the room and noticed Cat's frozen finger pointing at the girl's face with an astounded expression. Rachel frowned and moved her head to the Carrie girl. And cursed under her breath.

The girl was looking at Rachel with a terrified expression. Her face. From the long thick locks and carefully trimmed bangs, through a well-defined jaw, ending with the immediate need of a nose job... She wasn't looking at some Carrie Grisham, majoring in piano. She was looking at herself.

Almost. There were certain differences like the considerably paler carnation, for instance. And Rachel's bangs were a bit longer and her lips were fuller than the girl's. She wasn't a spitting image of Rachel. But a close one, close enough for a drunk Jesse to take the girl for Rachel.

 _I thought it was you._

"Oh, god," the freshman gulped. "You're the pissed girlfriend. Listen, really, I don't know why he kissed me there. I swear to God, I don't even know the guy. One moment I was gossiping with some girls, and the other I heard a voice calling 'Rach' and someone's mouth on my own. You have to believe me. I..."

Rachel didn't listen to the girl any longer. She stormed out of the music studio and rushed through the empty hallway.

"Where are you going, Rachel?" she heard Cat's frantic call after her.

She didn't turn but called back:

"What do you think?"

* * *

She bounced her hand frantically against the door to Jesse's apartment. She knew that he had the afternoon off and was sure he was inside. She didn't stop knocking even as she heard a muffled shout and an irritated "coming!" from the flat, until he finally opened the door to look at the impatient looking Rachel standing in front of him.

"Rach?" he sounded genuinely surprised. "What..."

He didn't finish because Rachel was already attacking his mouth, shutting the door behind her with her leg. Jesse, still taken aback, didn't protest but lifted her swiftly and hooked her legs around his waist.

They found themselves in Jesse's bed before she could think of why she was there in the first place. She wanted to talk to him first but seeing his pouting expression and still slightly swollen face she couldn't stop herself from jumping his bones.

It turned out that Jesse had more self-control in himself than she thought. He pulled out of her embrace, hovering over her with his forehead pressed again her own, breathing heavily from making out.

"Rachel?"

"Jesse," she panted.

"What are you doing, Rach?" he asked innocently.

"Um, trying to seduce you in order to ignore the necessity of talking?"

"Which I would gladly accept under any other circumstances," Jesse added with a smirk. "But the circumstances are what they are and I'm asking again, what are you doing in my apartment, Rach?"

Rachel sighed and pushed Jesse off her. He took his place next to her and propped his head on his palm, looking expectantly at her resting figure from above.

"I saw the girl you kissed," Rachel finally admitted. "She does look a bit like me."

"A bit?" Jesse threw disbelievingly. "Rachel, I was dead-drunk, waiting for you for three hours and I was sure it was you. I wouldn't mistake anybody for you if she wasn't your twin."

"So, can we just forget about it?"

"Forget it? You? Hell no, Berry. I know you. You will bring this up every time we have some fight, throwing in my face that I cheated on you with some chick or something."

Rachel rolled her eyes, feeling like a complete idiot. It wasn't like Jesse's words weren't true. But looking at him, she didn't see the picture on her phone; she was seeing her soulmate, who was more important than some petty mistake during a drunken night. She always knew what she wanted in life and Jesse was one of these things.

She needed to make him realise that.

"Well, you didn't actually cheat on me, if you were kissing 'me', right?" she whispered uncertainly.

Jesse looked at her surprised. Then he slowly nodded his head in agreement, grinning while following her logic quickly. He was still nodding, and smiling, and nodding, while placing his lips back to her neck to plant a trail of kissed from her face to her collarbone, while trying to get rid of her blouse.

Men were too easy to get into forgiving their girlfriends especially with a promise of a busy night as a perspective, Rachel thought, letting Jesse undress her.

"You still are on probation, though," Rachel breathed out in between kisses.

"Uh-uh."

"And you will have to take me out to dinner."

"Uh-uh."

"And buy me a new cell because I broke mine when I saw you calling again on Tuesday."

This time Jesse lifted his head and looked at her disbelievingly.

"Seriously?"

"Nah, I'm just messing with you," she chuckled and grabbed him by his shirt to pull him into another kiss.

"Oh, one more thing." Jesse groaned hearing it. "You are not allowed to kiss anybody without being like a thousand percent and a-birth-certificate-in-hand sure that you are kissing me, you hear me?"

His answer consisted of a muffled 'yeah' and hands roaming over her body.

* * *

"Our first make up sex," Jesse noticed. "I think I like it."

"You better not because I don't want to get through that fighting ever again," Rachel replied sadly.

"So, we're really fine?" Jesse asked some time later. They were still in his bed; Jesse was lying on his back with Rachel's head resting on his chest. He was stroking her head in a lazy manner, playing with some locks. "No accusations and excuses?"

"Of course. I would've forgiven you anyway, that's why I was avoiding you during the week. I was afraid I would jump you the moment I saw you."

"Technically, you have," Jesse chuckled tiredly, making her laugh.

"I guess so."

They fell silent again. Rachel was tracing some shapes on Jesse's skin with her finger, looking around the dark walls of his bedroom. She noticed some empty cans and Chinese boxes among occasional pieces of clothing on the floor. This place was a mess which made her imagine how bad Jesse must've felt because of their fight. He was usually impeccably clean.

"Jesse?" Rachel spoke up again, shyly, uncertain if he didn't fall asleep yet.

"Rach?" came his quiet answer.

"Do you think I could bring some of my stuff back here?"

"Sure. One condition, though."

Rachel sat up looking at him with the slightest frown on her face.

"Condition?"

"Yeah. You have to bring _all_ of your stuff here and move in permanently."

He took a hold of her hand and started playing with her fingers, kissing each one of them. Rachel was taken aback. They talked about her moving into Jesse's apartment in the past but she never thought he would make a proposition so soon, especially after a big fight.

"Jesse, I... What about preserving you man cave, or whatever you guys call it?" she managed to utter over her shock. Just how often does a perfect boyfriend ask a girl to move in with him? "I mean, this is huge."

Jesse glanced around his room and made a face.

"Is it? It's still smaller than my parent's house," he joked earning a slap across his chest.

"This is serious, Jesse," Rachel narrowed her eyes at him.

"We are serious, Rach," Jesse reminded her, looking down at her hands which he still held in his grasp.

"My dads would kill me," she protested.

"Come on, Rach, they would never do such thing," Jesse rolled his eyes at her. "They loved me when we were living in Ohio and they love me when we are in New York."

"Yeah, they loved you living with your parents in Akron a two-hour ride from Lima and they love you living in your apartment five blocks from my dorms in New York, Jesse."

"Oh, so you're saying that three years from now they will love me sleeping in my own bedroom across the hall from Mrs St. James?" Jesse pulled her right hand up to his lips and placed a careful kiss on the top of Rachel's engagement ring. "Is that so?"

Rachel giggled.

"I'm afraid so," she joked.

She wanted to say something more but Jesse silenced her with a kiss. Rachel felt the pleasure build up in her body from the touch of his hands on her chest and the side of her face. Jesse looked into her eyes.

"Seriously, Rach, move in with me. I can't stand another night without you here."

Rachel nodded her head in agreement, effectively forgetting any of her potential arguments against that idea.


	3. Chapter 3

**Stbo 11: That Jesse boy**

 **Hiram's POV**

It's never been a secret that out of the two of them, Hiram was the more serious one. Leroy was what people would traditionally called "a romantic soul". They found themselves fighting each other on behalf of their innate differences more than once but there was one thing about which they always, irrevocably, agreed on – the happiness of their only daughter was to be their all-time priority.

They brought her up in love of arts and in belief that there was nothing that they wouldn't do to make her happy. She was the most spoiled child in Ohio and they were proud to be responsible for taking care of their little star. Because she was bound to become a star one day.

Unfortunately, there was one thing that they knew Rachel dreamed of her entire childhood and which they couldn't give her, as much as they wished for that to happen: a friend. There were kids at her school who talked to her sometimes, some other used her for their own agendas but there was no one who would like their little angel for being who she was, without trying to change her. She grew up in need of someone who would appreciate her and her talents, that was true, but she never told them that out loud. They could only observe her in silence and hope for that someone to come. While she wasn't unhappy, she tended to be lonely.

Until the day on which she attacked verbally a boy who was going to eventually "rock her world", as she told them on the day of her wedding.

Hiram didn't meet "that Jesse boy" until the week after Leroy told him about the music shop incident. According to his husband, Rachel had entered her trademark diva mode and made a huge scene which was usually enough for anybody to run away from her, but not him. Hiram never saw Leroy this astonished in his life, especially as he was telling him how the boy actually challenged their daughter and gave her chance to convince him to give up that Into the Woods DVD.

And Rachel? When a week later Hiram entered the house coming back from his monthly conference, his angel jumped into his arms and greeted him but he could feel how nervous she was. Hiram guessed the source of her uneasiness lay in the tall boy with curly hair who stood in their living room with a frown over his face, as he moved his eyes from him to his partner. No disgust nor discomfort on his face, the boy greeted him with straight expression.

No other thirteen year-old boy impressed him that much.

And while they were away from the living room, something miraculous happened: they heard Rachel laugh. Hiram remembered how he and Leroy stopped talking at that sound, making Jesse's uncle stare at them curiously. They couldn't care less – Rachel was laughing a real, honest laugh with someone other than them. Soon enough, Rachel and Jesse both came running into the kitchen asking their respective adults for permission for spending another day together.

Since that moment, Hiram knew that "that Jesse boy" was going to stay with them for a long time.

He wasn't disappointed. During the two months of that summer, Rachel blossomed, much to Jesse's help. They found themselves spending every day together, attending the same summer courses and visiting each other. Hiram and Leroy would spend their evenings in the living room, listening to the two kids on the floor discussing their favourite musicals, helping each other with their drama classes' assignments or – that was their most favourite activity – singing; and all they could think of was how good the boy was for her. Since Jesse, Rachel became more confident. She laughed more.

It was something which made Leroy and Hiram love the boy as if he was their own.

But she had an impact on Jesse, too, Hiram thought.

No one found it surprising that the two of them cheered for Jesse and Rachel to finally unite for good. They were both surprised that it took all these years and drama for them to finally realise that they were made for each other. Sure, they were aware of their unique connection but neither of them was brave enough to make that final step and cross the boundary between friendship and romantic feelings. Or, neither of them felt like it at the same time. It was all about the timing.

When their little Rachel fell for Jesse for the first time, they spent weeks worrying about her. She was still so young, despite her emotional maturity. She made a hard decision – pushing Jesse away was supposed to make her suffer less because of her unrequited feelings. At the beginning they encouraged the short separation but later, after a serious conversation with her and few days of silent consideration, she realised that her friendship with Jesse was stronger than that. Jesse was older and while he cared for his little friend, he was too oblivious to guess the real reason behind Rachel's sudden withdrawal before she let him back in.

When the situation reversed it's been too late – Rachel had already gave her heart to her school colleague and Jesse was left alone and hurting while being too good of a friend to turn away from her, like she had tried to before. Leroy cried out for the boy's heart each time Rachel brought Finn up in the conversation with him or they met somewhere. Hiram, as the practical one, could only assure the boy that everything was going to be fine while silently admiring Jesse's persistence and unwavering loyalty.

Not that they disliked Finn Hudson. They liked him very much. He was a handsome and nice boy, with great parents and passionate about his sports. He cared about Rachel it in his own way. They wanted to believe that he loved their daughter just as much as she loved him. As long as their daughter was happy, they had no intention to interfere in their relationship, no matter how much they wished for Jesse to be the one by their daughter's side.

Jesse wasn't perfect; they never tried to fool themselves. He could be crude, offensive and self-centred. His arrogance more than once outgrew their expectations. It wasn't the same kind of arrogance and confidence that Rachel was known for – while she found her voice and talent worth boasting, Jesse seemed to perceive his very self in superlatives only. That was hardly a description of someone ideal, but there was something about his boyhood charm and devotion to their daughter which made Leroy and Hiram adore the boy.

Hiram was the first person to thank Jesse for injuring Finn when his little jump to the side was revealed; he's done something which Hiram wished but would never dare to do.

Hiram believed that he would never forget that day. On that day, the hell broke loose. Rachel cried her eyes out. She refused to eat, talk or as much as look at them. She shut them off almost completely. It wasn't only about Finn, they knew. She felt betrayed by Jesse for lying to her about his feelings. But even more for abandoning her when she needed him the most. It wasn't completely true; although Rachel never got to know it. Jesse never tried to contact her directly, but he called Hiram and explained everything in detail. It was another thing that Hiram found worth everything in Jesse – despite his hurt feelings he never stopped caring. He even tried to apologise Hiram and Leroy for causing Rachel's pain.

Jesse was always there for Rachel and that was something that Hiram wished for in a boy with whom Rachel was to spend the rest of her life.

When Jesse took him and Leroy out for dinner when they had visited Rachel for her first Hanukah in New York, Hiram knew it was the time. Hiram couldn't care less about the fact that Rachel has just begun college or that Jesse was still a student as well. Besides, Jesse promised to wait with the wedding at least until she's graduated. The only thing he asked for was their permission to propose soon. He could wait, he assured them, he's been waiting for her so many years; another few wouldn't make a difference to him. Jesse didn't have to enumerate the long list of reasons why he thought he was perfect for their daughter. He needn't have promise them no never hurt her again and worship the earth she walks on until the end of the world.

The moment they heard Rachel laugh in the living room on that fateful day, they knew that there was no one who would be more worthy of Rachel Berry than Jesse St. James.

"What are you thinking?" Hiram heard his husband's voice in his ear. "I know that look, it was something good."

Hiram smiled and nodded his head in silence. Leroy could read through him without any trouble. He reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly while Leroy put his head on Hiram's shoulder, sighing happily.

"I think I will hate this day for the rest of my life," Leroy declared after some period of silent consideration. "I know it should be a happy day but I hate it. It's unfair."

"Unfair because our little girl is happy?"

"Unfair because from this day on we won't have to be there for her. She won't need us. We are being rudely replaced by a younger version, nonetheless."

Hiram chuckled at his husband's overdramatic reaction. He pressed a kiss to his temple and smiled into his hair. Once a drama queen, always a drama queen.

"You know it's not true," Hiram assured Leroy. "She hasn't needed us for a long time. The days of her being our little princess are long gone. Jesse took the role of her guardian away from us the day they had met in that music shop."

"Dad? Daddy? Here you are!"

Hiram and Leroy turned to look at their beautiful daughter approaching them from behind. She was glowing, dressed in an exquisite wedding gown. The aura of an absolute happiness resolved around her then she grabbed their hands and squeezed them in her smaller palms.

"How are you feeling, pumpkin?" Leroy asked using the endearment which was long forgotten in the midst of their minds.

Rachel beamed at them and kissed their cheeks.

"It's the most amazing day of my life. And I just wish I could sit down and cry out of happiness but I'm not sure if Kurt wouldn't kill me for spoiling my make up," she laughed but a few happy tears filled her eyes. "I mean, the bride should at least look decent on her wedding day, right?"

The music started. Leroy brought Rachel into a tight hug for the last time and Hiram did the same, whispering into her ear:

"I couldn't be more proud of you, Rachel."

She jumped in place few times to cool her nerves, waving her hand in front of her face to stop the tears and laughing at her failure. Hiram grabbed a tissue and helped her save her precious mascara.

Rachel hooked her hands around their offered arms and nodded at the boy nearby to open the door. She nodded more to herself than to them and they started walking slowly. At the end of the aisle there was Jesse, grinning at their daughter like a madman, not bothered by his own tears falling down his cheeks. Hiram thought that some other man would try to stop them from falling, not wanting to look like a weakling but not Jesse. When that boy felt something, he felt it with all his heart, people be damned.

"If I faint, catch me," Rachel whispered to them when they were almost there. "If Jesse faints, take a picture."

Leroy chuckled which caused Shelby and several other people look at him with curiosity.

"You can still run away, it's your last call," Hiram murmured silently, making sure no one hears. "That would be something worth taking a picture of."

Rachel grinned at her dad and shook her head, looking up at Jesse and taking up his hand. She turned to Leroy and hugged him. When it was Hiram's turn be hugged, she pulled away and gave him another smile.

"No, I think I'll stay, dad," she whispered loud enough for Leroy, Jesse and the bride maids and best man to hear.

If Jesse was surprised at her words he never showed it, only nodding at Hiram and firmly closing Rachel's hands in his grasp. Subtle but straightforward sign that he would sooner die than let Rachel go.

"I definitely hate this day," Leroy repeated once more, looking at the altar where Jesse was reciting his vow. He was telling them how they met and how he knew that Rachel Berry was going to stay in his life for a long time.

Leroy sighed.

"He isn't even that nice, you know. In fact, he's arrogant and downright rude. Those cute boyish eyes and curly hair could fool my pumpkin but not me, Hiram."

Hiram shook his head with a sigh. Rachel began reciting his own vow and Hiram observed Jesse who looked at his very-soon-to-be-wife with such love that even Leroy stopped his tirade.

"He may be rude and stuck up, Leroy," Hiram whispered. "But look at him. Have you ever seen anybody looking at someone else that way?"

"No," Leroy admitted. "But I start to think that leaving that camera in the car was a bad idea. He looks like he could really faint any second."

The ceremony was over, fortunately without any interruptions and unconscious bodies falling to the ground. Jesse threw the gathered crowd a quick glance before grabbing Rachel's waist and pulling her into a kiss, which was far from the subtle sweet wedding kiss. Rachel grinned against his lips and even squeaked in surprise then he dipped her low without tearing their lips apart. People started laughing and clapping their hands. Someone whistled and pointed fingers at them. She murmured something to Jesse and hid in his arms, daring to only throw him and Leroy a sheepish look to which they replied with wide smiles. While Jesse led his wife proudly down the aisle, he winked at Hiram and smirked happily.

"I told you," Leroy grumbled. "Rude and arrogant."

Hiram pressed a kiss to his own husband's lips, silencing him for the time being.

"It's a bit too late to complain, don't you think?" he told Leroy. "I think twelve years too late."

"How can you even be so calm about it?" Leroy asked seriously this time. They emerged from the synagogue with Shelby tucked carefully under Leroy's arm. The woman was crying shamelessly. "You don't even seem to care about the fact that our only daughter has just gotten married and is going to abandon us."

Hiram handed Shelby another pack of tissues.

"Of course I care about that, Leroy," he assured his husband. "I simply don't have to worry because I know that our little princess is in the right hands."

Leroy grunted which made Shelby focus on their conversation for the moment. She opened her mouth to ask but Hiram told her silently not to. Instead, he led them to the young couple who was in the middle of hugging and accepting congratulations from their families and friends.

Jesse noticed them and left Rachel alone to approach them. Shelby, still crying, extended her arms and hugged her former student with an endearing "ooow" and "welcome to the family, Jesse" on her lips. She was such a sweetie when it came to weddings, Hiram remembered. The strict coach was gone and all was left was an agitated mother who gave away her only child. Hiram shook Jesse's hand, repeating after Rachel's mother but it was Leroy who made him wince in surprise when he grabbed Jesse's shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. That was it as far as the 'rude and arrogant' was concerned.

Jesse wasn't crying anymore but he was still very much touched by the time he and Rachel started their first dance as a newlywed couple. He and Rachel couldn't tear their eyes from each other's faces while swirling all over the dance floor while Lionel Richie's song was being played in the background.

Hiram felt Leroy's head on his shoulder again.

"You know what?" his husband murmured. "Maybe that Jesse boy isn't that bad after all."


	4. Chapter 4

**Time**

 **Rachel's POV**

Rachel Berry has achieved everything that she had ever dreamed of – she had an amazing New York life, Broadway audience at her feet, Tonys and People's Choice Awards piling up on her shelves. After her _Funny Girl_ debut the door to fame stood wide open before her and she enthusiastically used the opportunity to try herself out, exceed her limits and conquer the stage arm in arm with her other half.

She was in her element, boasting in the admiration of complete strangers, thriving to meet seas of fans swarming outside the theatres waiting for her to emerge through the door to take a picture with her, get an autograph or at least catch a glimpse of her face. It felt like heaven.

Jesse was with her on every step, attending her live interviews with her, accompanying her to the galas and social events of all sorts, never tearing his eyes off her. He would repeat to her over and over again how proud he was of her and how he knew she would make it eventually. To be honest, without him she probably wouldn't be there so quickly.

Jesse himself had nothing to complain in this department as well. His career steadily continued since his first big breakthrough a year after his graduation and since then he successfully added one new success after another. They have made two shows together, gathered a considerable amount of shared awards and thrived in their dream. A year ago, Jesse took up directing and Rachel won her first Tony for her role as one of the leads in his production.

What else could be the better prize for the years of their hard work and sacrifices rather than her first big award for something they _both_ were responsible for the creation of?

Rachel stood up from her desk and approached one of the walls in their living room. She smiled looking at the space covered with photographs form their life. It was her idea, she started covering the wall on the day of their engagement; she wanted to preserve every meaningful moment of their shared existence if they were to spent the rest of their lives together. Rachel approached the wall gazing up to the top left corner where she placed the pictures taken back during the summer when they fought about the _Into the Woods_ DVD. The summer they met.

On the first one, a thirteen years old Jesse was standing with his hands in his pockets, acting all cool while Rachel was trying to sneak up to him with a handful of pink glitter. She could remember the day very clearly even now. She had never made it, Rachel smiled remembering how Jesse had realised what was going on and in the last second had managed to escape the cloud of girly dust. Instead, Rachel had been left all pink and glimmering for the rest of the week – have you ever tried to get rid of the glitter from your body? Impossible. She had had a sickly enjoyable time every time she had gotten a hold of Jesse's arm or jumping onto his back, leaving a considerable amount of the glitter on his clothes and in his hair.

Rachel's eyes moved to the next row to see them dressed up as Fanny and Nick during Jesse's sixteenth birthday party. After her initial reluctance and the big fight when she had told Jesse she wasn't going – she was a fourteen-years-old, overly dramatic junior high student crushing on her older best friend, she had no intention of risking a humiliation or possible ridicule in case someone noticed her longing gaze or red cheeks every time Jesse smiled at her and told Jesse – she thought he would hate her for that. She had been unreasonable back then but, hey, a fourteen-years-old drama queen, anyone? Anyway, after talking with her dads they had managed to convince her to go after all and put a brave face on. She had adapted her best showface and Jesse's astonished but exhilarated expression had made up for every nervous thought that had ran through her head on that day. And it was the first time she had known that she could live with her unrequited feelings for Jesse St. James, regardless of anything. She would do everything to see that smile on his face.

The next time she was to see it, though, was after she had agreed to marry him. There was a photograph of that, as well, taken by some random guy. In the picture, she was standing with Jesse's arms around her waist, he was looking at her while she was staring straight into the camera, grinning with tears in her eyes and pointing to her engagement ring on her hand. That was definitely her most favourite picture on the wall.

Rachel scanned the wall in general. Jesse's graduation, her prom night, Rachel after winning her first Nationals on her own, her first opening night as Fanny Brice, Jesse and Rachel after their second Tony gala... you name it. All these perfect moments captured on the photographs which had one striking one thing in common – it was always her and Jesse, smiling or goofing around. The two of them against the world, she once thought.

Rachel found one particular picture and touched it with her fingers. Jesse's first opening night on Broadway, a few months after Rachel's first and only pregnancy fright. Rachel instinctively touched her flat stomach and held her breath. She's been considering it for some time now. She has been planning on leaving her current show in three months and then making sure Jesse slowed down a little bit with his own job.

She wasn't getting any younger and more and more often she missed another voice, presence in their apartment. Until now she was too preoccupied with her and Jesse's shows to stop and think about it. The topic was never raised by any of them since the false pregnancy alarm few years ago but Rachel wasn't angry or disappointed at her nor Jesse for never taking up this conversation – she was happy about the way her life went on, she would never regret any day of it. But now came the time to complement it with a little Jesse St. James Junior... that's awfully lot of 'J' sounds in one name, Rachel chuckled out loud.

"What's so funny?"

Rachel jumped. She turned around to see Jesse standing few steps behind her observing her with a fond smile.

"Don't scare me like that!" she barked pressing her hand to her chest to calm her thundering heart. "Do you have to sneak up on me every time?"

Jess raised an eyebrow at her then shook his head, coming closer to her and leaning in for a kiss. Rachel captured his lips and it was his time laugh.

"I called your name but you were too occupied in looking at the wall," Jesse gestured in the direction of the pictures. "Oh, I would've forgotten – Hayden called me an hour ago that you've gotten the part in Horowitz's new musical. Why do I have to find out from our manager, Ms Berry?"

Oh, busted, Rachel thought biting her lips. She didn't plan on telling Jesse about her baby plans yet but he would ask questions about her sudden change of professional schedule when he finds out that she wasn't going to accept the offer. She needed a good smoke cover or go all honest on him.

Rachel shrugged, making a decision.

"How long until you're finished with your show?" she asked avoiding his previous question.

"I have two, maybe three months of rehearsals and then another four until I pass the directing over. Why?"

Rachel pulled Jesse into the kitchen and made him sit by the counter while she grabbed two mugs and poured them some coffee. She felt Jesse observing her in silence as he finally noticed something was off about her but decided not to ask. After Rachel handed him the drink, she sat down facing him and that was it.

"I turned the part down," she confessed.

"Why?" Jesse frowned. He seemed to be really surprised and she could blame him – Rachel loved the script and felt it was something for her. But she had other priorities right now.

"I want to focus on my personal matters for the time being," she replied throwing him a pointed look.

"Okay," Jesse said slowly, moving on his stool, clearly trying to figure out what she was talking about. "Do your 'personal matters' involve me?"

Rachel nodded with a small smile.

"Very much so. That's why I would like you not to take up any other job after you're done with this one."

Jesse stopped drinking his coffee, his face in a state of complete shock. He shook his head, looking at her questioningly as if trying to fight off the confusion. Rachel groaned internally, he really had no idea where this conversation was heading and was nowhere near of understanding. Rachel put down her mug and pried his own from his hands as well before placing it next to her own. Then she grabbed Jesse's hands to catch his full attention.

"Jesse, I'll be twenty eight in three months," she told him slowly. He nodded his head, still frowning – it was like talking to a wall. "We've been happily married for almost four years now and have been living our lives to the fullest and I loved it. But right now, I really, really need you to make me a baby."

Jesse looked like he was about to faint and Rachel actually jumped to her feet to grab his face between her palms.

"Are you sure you want to have a baby right now?" he asked, looking into her eyes in search for confirmation. "This part..."

"Is just another role," Rachel finished for him. "And I seriously want to get pregnant before the end of this year. I'm at the point where I would be ready to take care of it myself but a little bit of cooperation on your side will be greatly appreciated," she grinned and Jesse burst into laughter at her words.

He didn't answer immediately but took his time to think about the situation and Rachel gave him all the time he needed.

"Fine," Jesse declared finally. He smiled widely, kissing her on the lip and chuckling. "All right. We're getting you pregnant as soon as you leave your show."

Rachel let out a breath in relief.

"Really? You don't want to, I don't know, sleep on it or something?"

"Really-really," Jesse kissed her again. "Think about it? Free unprotected sex all day and night with the sole goal of creating the perfect St. James baby? It's a win-win for both of us."

Rachel jumped into his arms hugging his neck.

"Oh my god, I love you so, so much!" she squealed into his ear. "I'm calling my dads and Shelby, and Kurt! Oh, gosh I need to call Kurt, he's been on my case for moths now!"

Rachel pulled away from Jesse's embrace and stormed out of the kitchen to disappear in their bedroom. There, she grabbed her phone and dialled her friend's number. Kurt picked up after three signals.

Rachel's for a moment considered how to break the news about Jesse's agreement to her little 'get Rachel Berry a baby' scheme and decided to use her old trick.

"Hallo?" she heard Kurt's voice.

"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God," Rachel sang into the phone.

"What's going on, Berry?"

"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God."

"Unless you've miraculously regained and lost your virginity again, you must stop doing that."

Rachel burst into laughter.

"I'm going to have a baby! Not now," she added quickly killing Kurt's surprised scream in the bud. "But I have Jesse on board and we're going to finally try for one."

"Oh, lord," Kurt sighed. "More small Berries and St. Jameses in New York."

"Shut up, you and Blaine will spoil it in no time," she laughed.

Suddenly, she felt Jesse's hands on her abdomen, circling her from behind. Jesse placed a trail of butterfly kisses on her neck and side of her face. Jesse took the phone from Rachel's hands and pressed it to his ear.

"Kurt, it's Jesse. Rachel will call you back; we need to rehearse before the big opening night."

Kurt gave out a disgusted sound and ended the call.

"You must really stop doing that," Rachel noticed. "Or people will stop calling me or picking up any call from me anymore."

Jesse shrugged.

"More time for us," he grinned. Then he turned really serious again. "There's just this one thing about which I was wondering..." Jesse sounded incredulous now. Rachel pulled back to look at his face. "How exactly did you plan to 'take care of it yourself' in case I wouldn't agree?"

Rachel smirked.

"No telling. I need a back up plan in case I want another kid and you say no."

Jesse seemed slightly uneasy after hearing that. But he only shook his head at her and grinned.

"Just remind me not to say no to anything in the future," he finally concluded, giving up in the face of the infamous Berry scheme.

* * *

 **Jesse's POV**

It was a déjà vu moment for Jesse. He was sitting in the living room on their sofa waiting for Rachel to emerge from the bathroom. It's been five months since their talk and a decision to start trying for their own baby and Rachel has left her show a month earlier. At the moment she was in the bathroom taking another pregnancy test.

The last several times were a miss.

Jesse's head snapped when Rachel opened the door and appeared in the entrance with a sour expression. She made it to the rubbish bin and threw the white stick away.

"It's broken," she declared.

Jesse frowned.

"Broken?" he repeated making sure he's heard correctly. "How?"

"Literally. I broke it into pieces when it showed negative again." She let out a breath and grimaced. "Maybe we're doing something wrong?" she wondered out loud.

Jesse shook his head with a smile in response to her reaction at another lack of success; at least, she wasn't sad. Knowing Rachel he expected her to get depressed when their first attempts were unsuccessful. Fortunately, she seemed to react completely differently: to be honest, she looked more frustrated about the fact that the one thing they couldn't do in one go was their baby, rather than simply sad.

"I'm pretty sure I do everything well," Jesse noticed with his trademark smirk. "And the doctor said we're both fine and healthy. We just need to keep trying."

"Oh, just admit that you don't want to get me pregnant too soon because I won't be hopping into bed at your word anymore," she stuck our her tongue and yelped when Jesse snatched her off her feet and sat her down in the armchair, kneeling in front of her.

"You've got me," he smiled.

"Maybe the fate doesn't want us to procreate," she was thinking out loud again. "Think about it: separately, each one of us is insufferable. Can you imagine what can happen when we mix our genes?"

In front of Jesse's eyes appeared a small pig headed girl with dark curls and devilish smile who stood in front of them demanding another toy to add to her large collection.

"I think I feel sorry for the kindergarten caretakers," Jesse murmured, chuckling.

"Exactly," Rachel agreed. Jesse noticed how she placed her hands at her stomach – she tended to do that a lot lately. She narrowed her eyes at her. "But I don't care if we need to hire an army of babysitters every week – we're having this baby even if its the last thing I'm going to do in my life, St. James."

The next two months were a no show again. Jesse was at home alone, waiting for Rachel to come back from school; she agreed to cover the post of a guest lecturer in Julliard for a few weeks. It was supposed to get her mind off the topic of the baby at least for the time being. With every day Jesse could see how her enthusiasm weakened more and more lately. He still was certain that everything was going to turn out fine; he trusted Rachel's doctor that all they needed was a relaxing atmosphere and _time_.

But Rachel began to get impatient. And depressed. Just a day earlier Jesse found her on the floor crying her eyes out about it.

The door opened and Rachel strode into the apartment. Jesse grabbed a test which he bought the night before and threw it at her. Rachel glared at his grinning face and picked the box from the floor.

"Don't you dare making that face, St. James," Jesse called after her. "It was your idea in the first place. Where's the enthusiasm?"

"Flew out of me with my last period," she gritted through her teeth, shutting the bathroom door behind her.

Jesse resumed reading his new script but looked up from the pages when he noticed that Rachel was out in less than minute, definitely too quickly for the test to show anything. He raised an eyebrow observing how she dropped the white stick on his lap and rolling her eyes.

"You can check it yourself. I've had enough looking at another negative. It's your turn to be disappointed."

With that she lifted her shirt over her head and disappeared inside their bedroom. Jesse sighed heavily and continued reading. All they need is time, he thought.

Rachel was gone for the next hour and when Jesse went to check up on her he found her fast asleep. He punched several buttons on the remote and the window darkened a few tones so that the setting sun wouldn't shine directly on her face. He produced another blanket and covered her tightly, kissing her temple. She smiled in her sleep. After a shower, Jesse joined her under the covers and let her small figure scoop closer. She pressed her back to his chest and Jesse's hand found its place around her waist.

"Sorry I snapped," she murmured.

Jesse kissed her temple.

"It's going to be fine," he assured her. "I promised you a baby and I will make you one."

Rachel shifted so that she was lying on her back looking up at his smiling face.

"I know."

Jesse leaned down and captured her lips.

"Get back to sleep," he told her. "I need to get my seven hours of beauty rest to make sure that my beloved wife finds me hot enough to be the father of her child."

She rolled her eyes again.

* * *

"Rachel, where are you?" Jesse asked as soon as she picked up her phone. He was gaping at the object in his hands disbelievingly.

"What do you mean where?" she grumbled. "At work. And why are you angry at me?"

Jesse started pacing around their living room, looking at the freaking pregnancy test in his hand and started laughing out loud.

"Rachel, get your ass home right now."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Rachel sounded really alarmed. "Jesse, seriously what's going on? Why are you laughing?"

"Babe, I'll tell you as soon as you're home. Just please get your sexy ass here."

He pressed the red button on his cell and sighed. He was going to kill her for behaving like a stubborn unreasonable child yesterday. And then he will kill himself for not noticing it sooner. For Christ's sake, crying, mood swings and constant exhaustion? Just how obvious could it be?

He's found the neglected test on the sofa in their living room where she dropped it the day before. He had never checked it the other day because he simply assumed Rachel was right again.

If he had checked the damned test after she gave it to him they would both spare themselves a few hours of nerves. And nerves were not good for the baby.

Rachel was freaking pregnant and had no idea.

He resumed pacing around the room until decided it was time to get ready for Rachel's return. An hour later he heard the main door opening and Rachel stormed into their apartment huffing in irritation.

"I hope it's important because I had to fight my way out of the lecture hall before it has ended," she grumbled taking off her coat.

Jesse was observing his wonderful wife with a smile. Rachel entered the living room and looked around in surprise at the sight of the decorated table and the celebratory dinner that Jesse had prepared them earlier on: her favourite vegan pasta and soup. Rachel smiled lightly and followed him to the table – Jesse helped her sit down and circled the table to sit on the opposite side of her. Rachel looked around.

"Not that I mind but what's the occasion?" she asked. "Please don't tell me that you've pulled me out of work just to have a dinner with me."

"I promise it'll be worth your time," Jesse grinned, thinking back to the small package on his night stand. He was sure to make Rachel aware of her state in the most spectacular way. "Eat."

His wife chuckled but obediently reached for her fork. After some time she picked up the glass of water and eyed the liquid suspiciously.

"No wine?"

"No, I feel like I have a really good shot at fulfilling my promise tonight so I'm not taking any chances with alcohol," Jesse explained swiftly.

Rachel's eyes widened but her flustered expression told him that she accepted the simple explanation and quite liked the idea. She was in for a big surprise then. Jesse ate his pasta in silence, only throwing Rachel occasional glances or smiles. The subtle humming of the music created a romantic atmosphere and Jesse noticed that Rachel was throwing him equally pleased looks.

It was a busy day. As soon as Jesse found the positive test he called Rachel's doctor to make an appointment for the next day. He asked about the probability of the false result due to the night during which the test was lying neglected but the man assured him that everything should be fine. Jesse surely hoped so because rising Rachel's hopes only to have them stomped soon after wasn't his intention. But something in the dramatics of the situation made him think that it was definitely it. Nothing in their lives happened normally.

After ending the call, Jesse called the florist's and ordered a couple dozens of red roses and had them delivered into the apartment some time before calling Rachel. He made sure that every flat surface of their bedroom was coated in the red rosy petals. Then he spent another hour checking every pregnant-friendly ingredients for making the dinner. He cooked it himself, knowing that Rachel loved when he did that, it was simple but thoughtful. While eating, Jesse made sure to start some small talk. Rachel told him about his day, smiling and answering his polite questions. She seemed to believe that the dinner was simply Jesse's way of comforting her and improving her foul mood from the night before.

"So, have you thought about the names yet?" Jesse fired suddenly at her. Rachel froze and looked at him with astonishment before swallowing with difficulty and answering:

"No, I wanted to be pregnant first, you know," she gritted. Jesse grinned.

"Come on, St. James," he teased. "You have to be optimistic if it is to happen. Besides, I'm telling you I have a hunch and today's the day. If not you can kill me in my sleep tomorrow."

She didn't seem convinced but resumed eating.

"I don't know, what about Ava for a girl?" she tried without too much thought. "And... Harry for a boy?"

"I like Ava," Jesse admitted. "But I was thinking about another 'J' in the St. James male heritage."

Rachel considered it for a moment.

"Jamie? Jacob?" she shrugged.

Jesse sighed. He wanted her to feel the happy anxious vibe, not mop around for the rest of the night.

"What about Julian?" he proposed. No reaction. "Judah? Jose? I know – James."

This time Rachel looked at him with sympathy.

"James St. James?" she repeated with a smirk before admitting finally: "I think Julian St. James sounds good."

Jesse nodded his head. He was done with his food. He stood up and pulled Rachel up to her feet. She let him guide her to the center of the room where Jesse started swaying slowly into the rhythm of the music. Rachel hooked her arms around his neck and smiled with her face hidden in the crook of his arm when he started singing quietly into her ear. Jesse took his time to appreciate the moment. He was holding the mother of his child in his arms, murmuring her sweet nothings into her ear, while she was completely oblivious. He couldn't imagine her reaction.

"Jesse?" she interrupted his thoughts.

He looked down on her smiling face.

"Thank you for doing all this. I feel like crap today and I really needed it."

"It's not over yet," he promised with a mysterious smile. "I swear by the end of the evening you will be the happiest person in the world."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm Jesse St. James – I consider making my beautiful wife happy to be my duty. I'm up for the challenge tonight."

Rachel smirked and stopped moving. Instead, she pulled Jesse in the direction of their room only to stop abruptly at the sight of the flowery decor and candlelight. She turned to look at him in awe. Not to waste time, Jesse kissed Rachel hard on the lips feeling how the wave of passion hits every part of his body. Rachel moaned loudly not bothering about anything when she grabbed the handful of Jesse's hair and pressed him even closer. She moved her hands on his neck and he braced himself when she jumped hooking her legs around his waist. Jesse grunted uncontrollably when she grinded against him and he suddenly realised that he was in for the best sex of his life as well.

He took his time. He undressed Rachel one piece of clothing after another, kissing every inch of her exposed body. Rachel was writhing under him and gasping at his every touch. Jesse's hands were fighting with the zipper of her pants when a sudden thought hit him for the first time in his life. He pulled away and looked down at Rachel disappointed expression. She tried to pull him in again but he took a hold of her hands and immobilised them over her head. He kissed her lips again before moving his mouth on her lips, nibbling it with his teeth.

"Back when we were still just friends, have you ever thought we could find ourselves in this position when we grow up?" he whispered with a small smile. "You know, totally in love and trying for our first baby?"

Rachel stared back at him in astonishment. After a silent moment she chuckled and nodded her head. Jesse's heart threatened to jump out of his chest at her reaction.

"Once, when I first met you," she confessed. "After we watched that _West Side Story_ at your uncle's place. My dad took me back home and on our way I saw my neighbour with a small baby and her husband in the park. I thought to myself that if would be nice to have something like that when I grow up and the only person that came to my mind was you. My dads told me once that they had no doubts that we'll end up together eventually."

"Your dads are smart, they had figured out I fell for you even before I did," Jesse revealed to Rachel for the first time. "Leroy took me to the side and tried to talk about it but I had no idea what he was talking about. Only after that movie night when I almost kissed you I realised what he was trying to tell me."

Jesse kissed Rachel again, slowly, making sure she felt the kiss in every part of her body. In the middle of another kiss, he reached to his night stand to grab the small package that he's prepared earlier on. He pulled out of the kiss and propped himself on his elbow, placing the box on Rachel's bare stomach. She looked questioningly at the satin-covered box containing that evening's surprise. He had used one of her old necklace cases so that she had no idea what was going on until it was out in the open.

"For me?" she asked innocently, grinning at the words – as if there was anyone else.

Rachel smiled and reached for her gift but Jesse stopped her.

"Close your eyes," he ordered and she obeyed. Smiling softly, Jesse opened the case and pulled the test out. "Not yet," he warned, placing the empty box back on the nightstand.

Finally he made sure the positive result was facing Rachel's face and told her to look. Rachel's eyes fluttered at the unusual sight before she fully registered what was happening. She opened her mouth but no sound escaped her lips. She brought both of her hands up to her mouth, moving her disbelieving eyes from the test to his teary face.

"Is this..." she started but her words were muffled by tears. "How?"

Jesse cupped her face in his hand and brought her in for a kiss.

"It's the one you took yesterday," he explained whispering. "I never looked at it assuming that you were right, found it in the living room this morning. Honey, you _are_ pregnant."

"You're not lying right?" she asked. "It's not a false alarm, right?"

"I've booked you an appointment for tomorrow," Jesse told her. "The doc said it's unlikely to be false despite the long time but I wanted to be sure."

Rachel nodded her head, eyeing the test. Then she looked back at Jesse and grinned.

"I told you," Jesse murmured placing his forehead on hers. "I promised you a baby and you will get one."


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm stuck on Keeping Alive - no excuse whatsoever, I'm just stuck. Hope that this piece will make up for the lack of update somehow, especially that in this chapter you can catch a glimpse of what will happen in KA :)**

 **-s.**

* * *

 **Reunion**

 **Jesse's POV**

"You want to go to McKinley reunion?" Jesse asked incredulously, looking at his beaming wife. He had no clue what was going on in her head sometimes. "Rach, you've left this hell hole during your sophomore year."

Rachel nodded energetically.

"Kurt invited me to come. Besides, it's been over ten years, Jesse, whatever happened ten years ago is in the past, right? And I can't wait to see Mr Schue and..."

"Are you sure you don't simply want to boast your success to them?"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Maybe a little," she admitted with a smile.

Jesse let out a short chuckle. He pressed a small kiss to Rachel's forehead. That sounded more like it.

"Fine, go. I'll miss you over the weekend," he murmured sadly but frowned seeing Rachel's ever growing grin. He had a bad feeling about it.

She pressed a long kiss to his lips and Jesse instantaneously thought of Judas.

"Jesse, love, you are coming _with me_."

* * *

"I still can't believe I actually let you drag me here," Jesse murmured to Rachel, trying to ignore the stares as they entered the gym of the McKinley High School.

The room was crowded with people – old students of the school as well as their plus ones. Everyone was swarming around the buffet and liquor bar. He heard some occasional laughs and joyful shouts, and couldn't stop himself from dreaming about their quiet luxurious New York apartment. He hated the idea of coming back to Lima, but knew that Rachel was really happy to take part in that reunion. He was the last person to keep her from what she wanted.

Jesse straightened his back and placed his hand protectively on Rachel's hip not wanting her to wander away. He wasn't going to risk anybody crashing or bumping into her.

She glanced up at him and gave him this little smile that Jesse recognised instantly. _Don't be ridiculous_.

"We've talked about it," Rachel whispered back not letting her smile slip off her face when she greeted some occasional stranger who happened to recognise her or him – not necessarily from the school corridors. "You love me and you wouldn't let your wife humiliate herself by coming to her school reunion without a date."

"You owe me," Jesse replied. "A big one."

Rachel nodded her head absent-mindedly looking around, clearly in search for someone. Jesse took his chance to skip over the crowd of former McKinley's students and their dates. He felt a little bit of the tension disappear from his shoulders as he didn't see any freakishly tall ex-quarterback.

"Rachel? Rachel Berry, is that you?" they heard a familiar voice behind their backs.

They turned quickly to see no one other but Quinn Fabray in all her blonde superiority. Jesse felt Rachel stiffen, most probably bracing herself before hearing some rude snicker or maybe even experiencing the infamous slushie attack. True, Quinn had been among the group of people who apologised personally for their behaviour during Kurt's wedding four years earlier, but still it was Quinn Fabray. A notch of caution was indicated. They expected a polite nod from the pretty blond school queen in front of them. They weren't prepared, though, to feel her arms over their shoulders in a strong hug.

"Oh my God," Quinn sang to their ears. "It's so good to see you!"

If Rachel was equally astounded by the former cheerleader's outburst, she never let her showface slip when she hugged the woman back and greeted her politely but keeping some careful distance. Jesse rolled his eyes internally. Despite her own assurances, she didn't truly believe in the "it's been ten years" theory either.

"Quinn Fabray!" Rachel laughed, and Jesse with surprise saw the dose of hesitation disappear completely from her expression or voice. "You look amazing!"

Rachel threw Jesse a quick look and asked if he could bring them something to drink and Jesse nodded with a sigh. In the meantime Quinn started talking quickly, telling Rachel some random storied she heard since her arrival. Soon they were gone to one of the nearby tables and Jesse was left alone.

That much for his protective presence.

Shaking his head, Jesse sauntered away to the drink bar created apparently for the purpose of the evening. Apart from Kurt and Blaine, who were yet to arrive, he didn't know anyone in the place so he managed to reach the counter without interruptions.

A couple of minutes later a barman handed him his drink and a bottle of water for Rachel. Jesse was about to turn back and walk away when he heard a voice calling his name over the loud music.

"Jesse St. James."

Oh, crap, Jesse thought hearing his name being said slowly, teasingly even. He didn't recognise the voice over the overall noise but if someone recognised him here it was either some fan or a former member of the New Directions. Either possibility seemed all too bad to Jesse. But gathering from the fact that the voice seemed mocking rather than excited he crossed out the possibility of a random fan. The New Directions kid, then. He turned slowly only to be met with a raised eyebrow on a pretty face of...

"Kate?" he gaped in shock.

There she was, his former teammate herself standing in front of him in the middle on McKinley High School reunion. She was looking at him with raised eyebrow and unreadable smile adorning her pretty face.

She looked pretty much the same as a decade earlier; her hair was still naturally curly and she wore a light make up. And she remained oddly reluctant when it came to human-to-human interactions, he noticed, as she eyed suspiciously some guy who happened to pass her on his way to his table.

They have practically lost contact year after he moved to New York to start college and she stayed in Columbus. They had a brief collision once when Kate decided to return to Akron Rachel's junior year, but other then that each of them lived their own lives. The ten-year reunion of McKinley High graduates was the last place in the world that he expected to run into her at. Jesse had no idea what to think, so all he could do was just look at her before his manners kicked in and he returned the smile.

"Long time no see," he told her with a grin. "You look great."

"Right back at you," Kate answered measuring him with an appreciative look.

Jesse gestured for her to wait a second and ran his eyes over the crowd to find Rachel. He located her still sitting in a nearby table, still deep in the conversation with Quinn.

"Damn, she's hot," Kate commented following his gaze. "Grew out of her awkward teenage phase, huh?"

Jesse chuckled. He noticed how she stared intensely at Rachel and how her eyes wandered over Rachel's petite figure in the tight, low cut Valentino dress. Jesse grunted to bring her attention back to him.

"I would be grateful if you stopped undressing my wife with your eyes," he scolded her.

Kate let out a short snort but turned away from Rachel. She guided them to a nearby empty seat after ordering a drink for herself and Jesse. Jesse passed a bill to the bartender and asked for an additional bottle of water for Rach.

Kate eyed the bottle with an unreadable expression, sipping on her gin and tonic.

"So, a little St. James coming soon?" she asked nodding at the bottle of water that Jesse was still holding.

Not really surprised by Kate's quick deduction, Jesse couldn't stop the smug and proud expression forming on his face.

"A perfect St. James baby," he answered grinning like a madman. The day he learned about Rachel being pregnant was the best day of his life.

"It's only the third month; Rachel's barely started showing so if you could keep it to yourself until we give out an official statement..."

"Sure thing."

They fell into a comfortable silence; Jesse liked it, it felt familiar. Kate was one of the few people, apart from Rach, that he could spend time without much of an interaction and still feel right. Finally, he dared to ask the big question that wandered around his head since the moment he saw her that night:

"So, who?"

Kate smirked under her nose. Her eyebrow moved visibly upwards when she moved her head to her left. Just as Jesse dreaded, he spotted Santana Lopez dancing with some guy in a blue jacket.

"We're not together," he heard Kate's voice. "We bump into each other once in a while. You see the lanky blonde dancing with the guy with a David Bowie hair? I'm here to make her jealous or something. I agreed knowing that most probably you would end up here with Rachel."

"That's a relief. It sounds better than the prospect of the forthcoming invitation to your and Santana's wedding," he noticed.

"Funny you say so, I'm actually getting married in two months," she fired, returning to the serious tone of her voice.

Jesse coughed with surprise. He immediately reached for a napkin and wiped his lips, careful not to ruin his Armani suit. Unbothered by his reaction, Kate lifted her palm, showing off a large diamond on her finger.

"You remember Chris? He was living in Columbus while we were in high school."

"You're kidding me, right?" Jesse asked disbelievingly.

He honestly thought she was messing with him. For the most part of his friendship with Kate Jesse grew to believe that the Columbus Guy never existed and was a facade behind which Kate hid herself or used to chase away intrusive guys. Then she brought him with her to Akron, but he wasn't there to see the guy with his own eyes. True, Rach had met the guy briefly that year, but didn't share much with him.

To be honest, even after all those years they were both reluctant to come back to those couple of months that had redefined their whole relationship – especially that Kate had been in the centre of the whole affair.

"No, I swear to God, St. James, I'm getting married by the end of this year and the wedding will be the most ridiculously pompous and overpaid party in history. I wanted to send you an invitation but I wasn't sure it would get through your management."

He didn't know what to say. Kate has always been a mystery even to him, but the way she lived her life seemed to be a material for an interesting screenplay. He reached to his wallet and pulled out his card.

"Give me a call about the specific date and place. I will not miss it," he assured her standing up and collecting the bottle of Rachel's water. It was time he found Rach. "I'll see you around, I guess."

Kate gave him a smile and actually hugged his arms. Jesse felt his lips form a grin. He missed her like hell.

"It's been good to see you," he told her. "Don't be a stranger."

"Yeah," she turned to look in Rachel's direction once more. She and Quinn were joined by Kurt, Mercedes and Tina. "Gosh, you are a lucky guy."

"Seriously, back off," he warned her again.

"What? Let a girl dream a little," Kate shrugged. "Besides, I'd tried and she wouldn't give in."

"What?!"

As if not noticing his total confusion, Kate just wandered off leaving him alone. Jesse knew that he was still wearing that dumbstruck expression on his face as he approached the table occupied by Rachel and her former glee clubbers. He shook his head again and tried to come back to reality. Whatever Kate meant, Rachel was sitting there waiting for _him_. She did look stunning and she was all _his_.

"Here you are!" Rachel beamed at him, grasping his and pulling him into a kiss. "Guys you remember Jesse, right?"

Jesse nodded in silent greeting to which they responded in the same way. Most of the people by the table had attended Kurt and Blaine's wedding during which they apologised to Rachel in person for their behaviour in high school so Jesse didn't mind them nearby. He handed Rachel her water while Kurt complimented his custom made suit.

"Was that Kate?" he heard Rachel's surprised question. He looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I bumped into her on my way to the bar," he lingered with his lips over her ear and murmured quietly but with a dose of amusement, "I think we need to have a little chit chat about your junior year."

Rachel almost spit some of her water, which caused her company throw her weird looks and make Jesse raise his eyebrows at her reaction. Silently observing how her face turned pale and quickly red, he handed her a napkin and took the water from her hands before taking his seat on Rachel's left.

That was going to be an _interesting_ discussion.

"So, you both work on Broadway now?" Tina asked eyeing Rachel's unusual reaction to Jesse's quiet message with suspicion.

Jesse, seeing that Rachel seemed very much unable to continue the conversation for the time being, nodded his head.

"Yes. We're finishing a big project right now that we worked together on but I can't really give out any specific information due to the contract we've signed." He didn't miss the fleeting admiration and envy in their eyes. "After that we're planning on taking some vacation time for the rest of the next year."

They nodded with understanding.

"What are you up to nowadays?" he asked instead. "I know that Kurt is working on his debut as a director, right?"

The man nodded his head.

"Yes, the modern take on the beauty and the beast. The rest will remain nameless, after fashion."

Jesse nodded in understanding. It turned out that Quinn Fabray was a graduate of the Yale and currently engaged to some lawyer. Tina was a dance instructor in Chicago running her own small dance studio, married to the wheelchair kid, Artie, who made low budget movies in which she starred occasionally. Puck was in the army so he couldn't attend the reunion. Santana and her blonde friend were in the crowd, not giving a damn about the old glee club.

"And what about Finn?" he heard Tina asking. "Will he be here?"

All eyes wandered over to Kurt's face who shrugged. Rachel seemed to ignore the uncertain glances thrown at them by their company but Jesse felt his expression harden. It was hard not to consider Hudson's presence in the context of Jesse's and Rachel's relationship. They haven't seen much of him, apart from some unfortunate encounters over the years – they cane from the same city so the occasional meetings were bound to happen.

"He's married to some country girl from Oklahoma," Kurt told them. "Mindy, if it couldn't get any more clichéd. She's rather... conservative, if you know what I mean. I avoid coming home when he's at home visiting our parents with her unless it's extremely necessary. It never ends well."

Kurt had shared with them news about Hudson's wife and her issues before, she was the reason why Hudson never attended Kurt and Blaine's wedding. Kurt was never shy about his orientation and Blaine, although more composed, was equally proud of it. Having to meet someone; more, becoming a member of the family with someone so bluntly showing off their homosexuality must've come quite as a shock to a Mindy type of a girl.

"He didn't adapt her beliefs," Kurt added after a moment. "Fortunately for me, I wouldn't want to make Carol unhappy about some family feud. And I think that he is somewhere here, probably waiting with her for me to disappear to actually approach any of you. So as not to prolong her suffering, I will excuse myself and join my husband on the dance floor."

With a grin, he was gone. Tina and Quinn excused themselves and followed Kurt. Jesse concentrated back on Rachel who was sipping her water in silence. She was eyeing the jumping crowd with a tone of lingering in her eyes. Due to some instability, her doctor discouraged her from partaking in the intensive physical activities at the beginning of the pregnancy, including dancing, but he knew how badly she wanted to join her school colleagues in the craze despite that.

"I hate this part of being pregnant," she whined.

"And which part do you love?" Jesse joked. "I recall you complaining about almost everything and you aren't even showing yet," Jesse teased her.

"I like one part," she told him and he raised his eyebrow in surprise. She really hated the constraints forced on her by her state. "The one when you watch me when you think I'm not looking and grin like a cat that's eaten the canary. Or when you told your parents and I've never seen you more proud of yourself than on that day."

Jesse felt his eyes tear up hearing her loving confession. It was true, he was extremely proud but not of himself but of them both for actually making it. They've created a real family.

The surroundings of the McKinley High brought back old memories. Jesse still remembered his eighteen years-old self and his one-sided feelings for Rachel. How miserable he's been back then, hoping for her to notice him finally and accept into her heart as someone more than just a friend or family.

The day he discovered the positive pregnancy test? Totally destroyed the memory of his first Broadway opening night, their third Valentine's Day dinner when she had said yes to his proposal, or even their impressive wedding night experience.

"Rach, I don't think one lifetime is long enough for me to explain how much I love you," he kissed her lips and then murmured against her lips. "You and the little one."

"Oh, my god, you're Rachel Berry!"

Jesse groaned and rolled his eyes at another frantic call from a fan. Rachel grinned and with the last peck on his lips she pulled away to face the excited woman. She was a blonde, with a nice body and traditionally pretty face. But she ended up bleak in comparison with Rachel's exquisite type of beauty, if you asked him. She was smiling widely as if unable to produce any other sentence. Rachel, like a veteran that she was, smiled back, took a hold of the woman's hand softly.

"Hello, it's always a pleasure to meet a fan."

The woman seemed to regain the control over her voice.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I met you. My husband told me so much about you. He went to school together with you, you know."

Rachel exchanged looks with Jesse. Anyone who would know anything more than Rachel's name must've been with her in the New Directions.

"What's his name?" Rachel asked politely.

"Finn Hudson, Ms Berry. I'm Mindy Hudson."

Are you kidding me? Jesse thought noticing the smallest slip of Rachel's polite smile which immediately became a little forced.

"It's St. James," Jesse corrected the woman dryly. "Mrs St. James."

He wasn't the nice one in their relationship and wouldn't miss a chance of giving vent to his frustration at the poor, innocent woman who simply happened to be married to a guy whose guts he hated. Oh, and her being a homophobe who hated their friend and his husband, apparently, wasn't much of a help to her.

"I apologise," the woman covered her mouth shyly. She seemed quite sweet but the first impression created by her unhappy acquaintance made Jesse unable to consider her as such. "I just wanted to say how much I admire your talent, Mrs St. James. And, Mr St. James," she nodded in his direction.

"Mindy? Mindy, where are you?"

Finn Hudson made his dramatic entrance. He was holding two glasses of punch in his hands and looked at Rachel and Jesse with an astonished expression.

"Rachel?" her name escaped his lips.

The three of them, with the exception of poor oblivious Mindy, exchanged awkward glances and – in case of Jesse and Finn - glares.

"Jesse?" he heard Rachel speaking and felt her small hands stroking his balled fists in a relaxing manner. "Can you get me something to drink?"

 _Go away and let me handle it on my own_ , she spoke silently with her eyes.

"You can have my punch," Mindy offered quickly. "I wasn't that thirsty anyway."

Rachel, without thinking, put her hand on her stomach and smiled apologetically.

"No, a glass of water would be just fine. Jesse?"

The last think that Jesse noticed was Hudson's red face and wide eyes and Jesse just knew that he understood what Rachel didn't say out loud. He passed the tall freak with a smirk on his face.

He made it to the bar as quickly as he could, not wanting to leave Rach with Hudson alone any longer than it was necessary. When he came back to their small circle, Rachel was taking a picture with Hudson's wife. She was a professional; her personal feelings towards the man weren't enough for her to mistreat a fan. Jesse was damn proud of her.

He handed her the bottle of water and she actually took a sip. Mindy seemed to conduct some internal struggle before blurting out:

"You're expecting?"

Jesse opened his lips to give the nosy woman a piece of his mind but Rachel was the first to speak.

"Yes. Yes, we are. Me and Jesse couldn't be more happy about him or her joining us next year. I mean we've been _trying_ for so long," she sang with a serene expression, intentionally rubbing her happiness in Hudson's face.

She was just amazing.

With another sentence, though, her expression hardened:

"Of course, I must have you know that due to the strict privacy policy you are obliged to remain silent about this under the threat of severe legal consequences. Otherwise, our lawyers will be at your door before you can say 'Berry'."

By the end of that sentence her face screamed seriousness and disdain. Jesse couldn't believe his ears; he had to hide his face in Rachel's hair not to laugh into Hudson's face. She was incredible. His sweet little Rachel Berry using the woman's incredulousness to her own, evil schemes of getting back on her cheating ex-boyfriend. And the said cheating ex-boyfriend seemed to understand the agenda unquestionably judging from his embarrassed face.

Jesse spotted Kate's face in the crowd not far away from them. He caught her look and he nodded ever so slightly at his friend. Kate's eyes wandered over Hudson's tall figure and she grasped the situation immediately. She pushed Hudson's arm out of her way and interrupted the awkward discussion by grasping Rachel's arm and pulling her after her into the group of dancing couples.

"Come on, Berry," she said out loud. "Let's give Jesse something to fantasise about."

Rachel laughed. It was a slow piece so she let Kate pull her into a tight embrace. Hudson's wife's expression was priceless as she eyed them suspiciously. Especially the way Kate's lips brushed Rachel's ear when she told her something or how her right hand rested dangerously low down Rachel's back.

"Why is she letting this... lesbian touch her like that?" Jesse heard Mindy's silent murmur. Jesse's eyes reached his hairline when he heard those words but the woman seemed to forget about his presence and continued. "I didn't know she had _such_ friends, I..."

"Kate's not a lesbian," Jesse interrupted the woman matter-of-factly. He wasn't looking at her but at the dancing women and lifted the corner of his mouth in a small smile. "She's actually bi."

"How do you know?" Hudson grumbled, not caring about his disgusted wife anymore. He was observing Rachel too much to Jesse's displeasure.

Mindy Hudson also looked at Jesse in surprise and with question in her eyes. Jesse shrugged and downed his whiskey:

"Because I've been sleeping with Kate in high school, while _you_ were busy cheating on Rachel with your _classmate_ , _who_ turned out to be actually gay and started hooking up with Kate soon after I got together with Rachel."

Jesse observed how the meaning of the words hit Mindy Hudson's head and the woman took a step back away from the giant dork.

"What?"

Without thinking, he started humming a familiar song under his breath when he approached the stunned-looking couple in front oh him. Hudson frowned at him when the opening lines of _Another One Bites the Dust_ reached his ears and stiffened when he realised where exactly did that song led in the chorus. The oaf fisted his hands but Jesse ignored him with a smirk. He mockingly clinked his glass of whiskey against Hudson's cup filled with a cheap punch.

"You had her and you blew it, man. Feel bad yet?"


	6. Chapter 6

Jesse was home alone when Rachel barged into the apartment huffing angrily at something. He raised his head from the script and observed in silence as Rach took of her shoes, then the coat and threw it all to the floor. She looked around in search for something and when her eyes fell on his figure, she sighed heavily and started walking into his direction.

Before Jesse had a chance to ask about anything, she simply lay on the sofa next to him and hugged his waist, with her face hidden in his chest, inhaling deeply. Jesse didn't even ask; he just hugged her back and kissed her forehead, murmuring quiet 'I love you' and went back to reading his script.

* * *

Rachel stared at Jesse in silent shock. He was crazy. He couldn't have just said what she thought she heard from his lips. She gulped not even allowing her mind go into that direction. The mere thought of Jesse... and that woman... doing _that_.

"Don't you dare," she hissed in madness. "Don't you ever dare give in to that... monstrous idea."

Jesse stiffened and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and tried to reason with her.

"Rach, baby, it's not like it would change anything..."

"How can you even say so?" Rachel growled, jumping to her feet. "I don't agree."

"Rach..."

"Jesse, I said no. As your girlfriend, as the person you come back home to: no."

Jesse cupped her face between his hands and forced her to look him into eyes. He kissed her lips and she shuddered.

"You don't love me anymore," she pouted miserably. "If you loved me, you wouldn't do it."

"I love you, baby," Jesse assured her. "I will _always_ love you. But this can help me getting that role."

"I don't care about that role!" she hissed. "No, Jesse. I beg you, don't do it!"

Jesse shook his head. He let go off Rachel's arms and stepped away. He started pacing around their living room.

"It's just for a few months. Few months and everything will be back to normal," he tried to convince her but Rachel was adamant.

"Maybe, but before the few months pass, I will be stuck with watching you like that."

"Rach..."

"Jesse, it's my last word," Rachel poked her finger into his chest. "If you do it, I..."

"You what?" he asked, not really willing to know the object of her ultimatum, to be honest.

"I will do the same, too," she glared at him.

It was Jesse's turn to turn pale. He stepped closer to Rachel but she stepped away, rising her head bravely. In her eyes, he could see that she was at her limit.

"I'll do it," she threatened him. "I know a guy; he'll be more than willing to..."

"No!" Jesse growled. He suddenly understood the powerful feeling that led Rachel to counter his every argument; the sense of loss, even for a few months, would be... unbearable.

Rachel folded her arms across her chest. She smirked at his hopeless expression and narrowed her eyes.

"You will go to the theatre tomorrow morning," she told him. "And you will tell that woman that if she will as much as lay a finger on you, she would answer before me."

Jesse gulped.

"I don't care how many roles you will not get, it's not worth it."

He gave up. Nodding his head, he stood up and took Rachel in his arms. The girl sighed with relief.

"Thank you," she breathed out.

The next morning, with a heavy heart, Jesse met up with his manager. Hayden looked up from the pile of documents and raised his eyebrows.

"Jesse?"

"I won't do it," Jesse declared. "Rachel will kill me."

Hayden didn't even try to hide his irritation.

"Jesse, there are things that people like you just have to do to get to the top," he told him. "Even if people you care about don't approve."

Jesse shook his head. Hayden murmured something with irritation.

"Jesse, it's not such a big deal around here," he tried again. "People do it all the time."

"I know, and believe me, I've done worse," Jesse assured him. "But, it's a big deal to my girlfriend."

"You want this role or not?" Hayden lost his patience.

"There must be other way."

"There's none."

"Then forget it," Jesse finished and sighed. "Tell Alicia that I will not get that buzz cut."

* * *

There were a lot of things that he loved about Rachel: she was sweet, honest, cute and at the same time, totally sexy. She would wear those damned skinny jeans or short skirts like no one is looking and Jesse would just have to remind himself not to stare too much otherwise she would glare at him.

The other day she wore this incredibly tight dress to a night out with their theatre friends and Jesse had to literally keep his hands to himself before they left for the club. She didn't really realise just how freaking stimulating she was sometimes. Other guys were leering at her and Jesse more than once had to remind _them_ that this goddess was his. He wasn't jealous, though. He was above that shallow emotion. Besides, other guys could only look and see the surface.

It was Jesse who would come back to their apartment and see Rachel dressed in her pink oversized flannel pyjamas, with a messy bun on her head and without her impeccable make up, grinning at him with her toothbrush sticking out from her mouth. What other people saw everyday was Rachel Berry, in the evening she turned into his Rach.

And to be completely honest, it was when she wore those stupid childish teddy-bear slippers and an elastic head band to keep her hair up that she looked most beautiful.

* * *

R: Jesse?

R: Are you there?

R: I can't sleep

J: Rach, it's 3 a.m. here.

R: I miss you.

J: Damn you, woman. Go back to sleep.

R: I told you. I can't. When are you coming back?

R: Can you call me and sing me to sleep?

R: Jesse?

R: Jesse!

J: WHAT?

R: I love you?

J: GET BACK TO SLEEP

J: Love you, too.

* * *

"Can you buy me a beach house?"

Stunned, Jesse looked up from his phone and arched his eyebrow at his wife.

"What?" he asked.

"A beach house. You know, in Hamptons," she answered. "I heard Annie talk about a beach house yesterday. I think I would like one."

Jesse shook his head.

"Why would you need a beach house in Hamptons?" he asked incredulously.

"I don't know. I just feel like having a beach house in Hamptons."

Jesse sighed. He pulled Rachel closer to him and kissed her temple.

"Baby, I'm not buying you a beach house in Hamptons," he told her matter-of-factly. Rachel started to protest, but Jesse kissed her lips to stop her tirade. "Rach, the last time we've been to Hamptons you cursed the place."

"What? I did not..."

"No, Rachel, you literally took out some weird Jewish book and started murmuring some curses over the front yard. For the last time, I'm not buying you a beach house in Hamptons."

* * *

"I don't think it was appropriate," Rachel looked around the room.

"Come on, Rach. Don't tell me you've never imagined it."

Jesse slowly started buttoning up his dress shirt and tied up his bow tie. Rachel reached down picked up her expensive Valentino dress off the floor where it had fallen a few minutes earlier. She turned her back to him and Jesse helped her to zip up her dress. She put on her shoes and glanced between them to make sure they looked presentable again.

A few minutes earlier he had to muffle her screams with his mouth on hers when he drove her over the edge, and now she stood in front of him trying to look dignified. He smirked.

"Oh, dear lord," she murmured against his lips when he finally managed to kiss her on her lips.

Slowly, the distant hum of music in the gym reached their consciousness – the ten years reunion of McKinley High was well in act – and Rachel looked around her old choir room in shock.

"I'm going to blame it on my pregnancy hormones," she concluded finally.

Jesse laughed and grasped her hand tightly before following her out.

"Shelby's office, Carmel's auditorium and McKinley's choir room," Jesse murmured straight to her ear. "Rather interesting venues, huh?"

* * *

"Your latest show turned out to be less enthusiastically received that the public predicted," the interviewer began another question. "You've been through a lot of professional critique."

Jesse nodded his head, thinking back to the last couple of months.

"Well, no one is perfect, we all have better or worse days," he replied inclining his head slightly. "I happened to have a rather bad year."

The interviewer laughed and nodded his head. Jesse moved slightly in his chair.

"You seem pretty happy now, though, despite the fact that the production is still highly criticised. Many young actors before you couldn't handle the pressure but you didn't give up and strode on. You've spent less than few weeks before you've been cast in another show, which, by the way, is impressive. Can we know your secret?" the man laughed and Jesse smiled in response.

"Of course, my secret sits in the first row," he gestured to a grinning Rach who sent him a kiss through the air. The audience laughed when Jesse pretended to catch the kiss and pocket it over his heart.

"Can we ask about your secret's name?" the host asked with a smile.

"Yes, her name's Rachel. She's the reason I'm sitting here tonight and not in my couch, you know. I'm totally impressed that she actually put up with me moping around for so long and didn't run away like the rest of my friends. I'm quite a handful when in a bad mood to be honest."

"How did she do that?"

"You mean, how she started with ritually burning the bad reviews I've gotten?" Jesse chuckled and a wave of laughter ran over the audience. Jesse looked over at Rachel and smiled warmly at her. He honestly wouldn't have survived the past several months without her by his side.

"She's just the most amazing person in the world."

"She seems like a very special someone," the host raised his eyebrow, looking at Rachel meaningfully.

A mysterious smile played on Jesse's lips when he spoke again:

"Yes, she is. She's been my best friend since I was a kid, and I'm pretty sure that, fortunately for me, she's stuck with me for the rest of my life."

That piece of information caused a wave of 'awws' and 'ohs' over the audience. Some other voices expressed their disappointment. Rachel blushed slightly but Jesse just winked encouragingly at her.

"Are you really telling the hundreds of the heart broken women in America that you're taken?" the man laughed lightly and Jesse nodded his head with pride.

"What can I say?" he spoke up eventually. "I've found the love of my life, I'm not going to let her go."

* * *

On Saturday morning, exactly twelve years to date after Rachel met Jesse in the small music shop in Lima, she changed her name to St. James.

* * *

Jesse woke up to the sound of hushed whispers and giggles. His eyes fluttered when something small but, damn, heavy landed on his chest.

"Ow, what the f..."

"Jesse!" Rachel's voice scolded him sharply and Jesse finally realised what was happening. He opened his eyes to see his little princess happily beaming at him from above. Jesse grinned in response.

"Happy birthday to me!" Lis sang in her small voice. "Wake up, daddy. I'm a birthday girl and you are going to do whatever I want!"

"And what would that be?" Jesse asked with another smile.

"Princess movies!"

And she was out of their bedroom. Jesse moved to the sitting position while Rachel slipped under the covers with a smile. She leaned over him and planted a kiss on his lips.

"I spared you as long as I could," she told him. "Hayden called, you're free until seven. Then they want you in the theatre."

Jesse nodded. He closed his eyes to kiss his wife again but Lisa's call brought them back to reality.

"Daddy! Now!"

He managed to get out of their bed. He turned to look at Rachel's baby bump pointedly:

"I sincerely hope the other one is going to be a boy."


End file.
